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A wandering Aramean was my ancestor. Deuteronomy 26:5

When the people of Israel entered into the Promised Land and harvested the very first crops from their new homes, they were called to bring offerings of those crops to give to God and to share with those in their community who needed food. As part of the ritual around those offerings, each giver was to tell a story, a story common to all of them but specific to one family as well. The ''wandering Aramean'' was Abra-ham, joined by Sarah and their extended family. The story involves God in relation-ship to that one family which then extended out to an entire nation, a nation called to be a light to other nations.

In May, we celebrate Mother‘s Day, also known in UCC circles as the ''Festival of the Christian Home.'' This day is an opportunity to remember that God relates to us not just as a church community or as a world-wide community of the body of Christ, but also to our families individually, no matter what their composition. It continues our ancestors‘ understanding that God‘s presence is known in families, and that God calls individuals and their families to order their lives around that presence, that relationship. Just as God‘s love is incarnate for us most intimately in our families, so we are called to incarnate our relationship with God by how we make family choices, and that includes how we share our resources. What story would you bring to God with your offerings?

Rochelle A. Stackhouse is the Senior Minister